American surgeons learned to transplant a penis

18.05.2016

“Show me the threat and I’ll show you how to know how to run”, — says the wise Georgian saying. Hundreds of American veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq commit suicide. Many of them have lost in these wars of the genital organs. Says Dr. Curtis, Cetrulo working in plastic and reconstructive surgery at the Massachusetts General hospital Boston, “these are young guys 18-20 years old. They feel they have no hope for intimacy and sex. They can’t even go to the toilet standing up”. From a psychological point of view for these guys genitalia transplantation equals saving lives, adds Dr. Cetrulo.

photo: pixabay.com

But the Ministry of defence “does not like” when veterans become experimental Guinea pigs. “They sacrificed a lot,” they say in the Pentagon. From 2001 to 2013 1367 soldiers in the United States were victims of wounds of the urinary-genital system. (Statistics from the trauma registry of the Ministry of defense of the USA). Almost all of them younger than 35. They have suffered from improvised explosive devices.

Surgeons at the Massachusetts General hospital (IGY) spent three years to prepare the transplantation of penis. They have honed their technique on the corpses of the dead. So the other day, they have achieved brilliant success. The patient who lost his penis due to cancer, successfully transplanted a penis from a deceased donor.

The patient’s name is Thomas manning. He is 64 years old. He is a Bank courier from Halifax, Massachusetts. The transplant of the penis took 15 hours. It was held may 8 and 9.

“I shall be back the way it was before,” said manning, sitting in his room, not on the bed, and for the first time in the chair. After surgery, he feels well and almost feels no pain.

“We are cautiously optimistic,” says Dr. Cetrulo, the leader of the surgical team that conducted the transplant. — We are at the yet-uncharted territory”. The operation was done 12 30 surgeons and nurses.

The head of this group, the Director of regional urology programs SGG Dr. Dicken To in interview to the correspondent “new York times” said: “Our team did not plan such operations. We wanted to confine the evaluation of candidates and decision to do they transplant a penis or not. But today we decided that we study for transplantation of cancer patients and the injured. Transgender patients in not one of them”.

Manning got into the IGY after an accident at work in 2012. After certain procedures, he was “in the clutches” of the group, and To Cetrulo. It turned out that he earned himself cancer of the penis as a result of the collapse of heavy equipment. The penis has formed a growth that manning initially did not pay attention, the tests showed that he had cancer, which threatened a fatal outcome. This cancer is very rare disease. This year they sick in the United States by 2030, of which 340 waits for death.

“If it wasn’t an accident, I would have been under the ground two years ago.” The doctors told him he needed amputation of the penis. I had to agree. After the amputation, leaving only the spine size in one inch. The manning had to sit on the toilet when he went for a small need. About any sex life could not be and speeches. “I generally tried not to touch the women,” admits manning. — How to tell a woman that your penis amputated!”

If postoperative period runs smoothly and that manning will be able to urinate normally after a few weeks. Sexually function it will begin in a few months. Manning does not hide that has undergone a transplant of the penis. Rather the opposite. He considers it his duty to tell her, to dispel the shame and stigma that are associated with cancer, and strengthen the faith in normal life.” However, manning says that’s not ready yet “get a good look at your transplant”.

Until the end of his life, manning will have to take anti-rejection medication.

Group, Cetrulo and Co prepares for the second surgery: the penis of a patient injured during a fire in his car. Now waiting for a suitable donor.

IGY not alone. Surgeons of the medical faculty of Johns Hopkins University also plan to transplant the penis. Waiting list – a veteran wounded in Afghanistan.

According to the calculations of Dr. Cetrulo, the price of the transplant of a penis ranges from 50 000 to 75 000 dollars. But both hospital take these costs themselves, and surgeons will work for free.

In the world were produced by only two transplant surgeries of the penis. One unsuccessful — in China in 2006 and one successful — in South Africa in 2014. South African patient already had an heir.

The main goal of the transplant program in the United States is put on the foot or on the penis” veterans and among them to reduce the number of suicides.

But back to lucky star Mr. Manning. Three years he had to wait until it will be in the list of pending operation. These years were filled with all sorts of psychological tests and experiments, which requires any organ transplant. Finally, Manning made the list.

Then everything went with cinematic rapidity. Just two weeks later found a donor with the same blood group and same skin tone. Dr. Cetrulo believes that the success of the enterprise divides the organ Bank New England. The Bank reported that the family of the dead donor, who remains anonymous, gave Manning his blessing.

While Manning was only that one incident. The next day after surgery he started bleeding. He was again wheeled into the operating room.

Since then it is successfully on the mend. He has no regrets. He’s waiting for the time when I get back to work. He is thinking and about to start a family. “If I am fortunate, I will find 75% of my “I” to cancer. Before the transplant my penis “I had only 10%. The doctors promised me nothing. This was the deal”.